Robinson Cano now taking his place as Yankees marquee star and has a chance to prove that again in MLB playoffs

Robinson Cano connects on a long home run in the third inning against the Red Sox. (Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News)

If you wondered when Robinson Cano was going to take over this Yankee team, make it his the way it has been owned by stars such as Derek Jeter, we might have seen the beginning of it on Wednesday night.

Cano was spectacular in the division-clinching victory over the Red Sox at the Stadium, going 4-for-4, pounding two home runs and tying his career-high with six RBI. It was his ninth consecutive multi-hit game.

"Wow, that was a coming-out party for Robbie, with the world watching, when we needed him most," said Alex Rodriguez, taking a break from the champagne celebration in the Yankee clubhouse. "It reminded me of (Hideki) Matsui in (the 2009 World Series).

"As the guy who hits in front of him, you don't want to disturb him. You want to keep the line moving. You want the bat in his hands as often as possible."

Added Nick Swisher: "Raking, bro. Raking. I don't know what else there is to say. Especially in a clinching game like this, you need big guys to step up in big spots. Robbie had some opportunities tonight and took advantage of it. He's such a bad-ass, I'm glad he's on our side."

Going into the playoffs, Cano is the single most indispensable bat in the Yankee lineup, the player who could carry them deep into October and to a potential date in the World Series.

With Rodriguez struggling lately and Mark Teixeira just returning from a calf injury, the Yanks need Cano, as much as they need the home runs throughout the lineup that fuel them.

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Cano (r.) is outslugging power hitters like Teixeira. (Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News)

Cano, who was criticized earlier in the season for his numbers with runners in scoring position, has carried the Yankees lately. With the Bombers in a race for the division with the Orioles, Cano has gone wild recently. He has 24 hits in his last 39 at-bats, a .615 average.

The last Yankee with as many multi-hit games in a row is Bernie Williams, who had 10 in 2002.

Cano had help in Wednesday's Yankee power show. Curtis Granderson swatted two homers of his own, giving him a career-best 43 this season. Granderson actually had a chance to tie Detroit's Miguel Cabrera for the AL lead before he was removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning.

The four homers gave the Yankees 245 for the season, a franchise record.

The Gap Band's 1982 funk hit, "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," played on the Stadium PA system before the eighth inning as the scoreboard flashed a graphic reminding fans of the milestone. Heck, it might as well be the Yanks' theme song for the season, and it certainly applies for the tear Cano is on.

Cano, who led Yankee regulars with a .550 slugging percentage and finished with 33 homers, sloughs off talk that he is taking over the team from Yankees such as Jeter, Rodriguez or Mariano Rivera, saying, "I don't want to put that kind of stuff in my mind.

"They're here and I learn from them, guys who've been here a long time. When they leave and retire, you say, now is my time. But when they are here, you say, 'I appreciate playing next to a Hall of Famer' and enjoy them."

In other words, Cano is not only good at hitting. Sometimes he knows the right thing to say, too. For right now, though, at least, the lineup is his.

While the Yankees overcame a lot this season to get where they are, let's not forget that they are supremely talented — perhaps none more so than Cano.

Even so, he can't remember a time when he's been this hot.

"In this situation, you don't want to go back and think about what you've done in the past," he said. "You just can't wait to get to the plate and get a pitch you can drive.

"It's a great feeling," he added. "It came up at the right time. We need to win games and I was able to do the job with runners in scoring position, something I wasn't too good at earlier in the season."